Polish Town fair is canceled again this year

The Polish Town Street Fair and Festival is canceled again this year.

The cancellation marks the third consecutive year that the iconic street fair and festival, which had been held on the second weekend in August since its inception in 1975, will not take place.

The fair was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and by uncertainty due to COVID last year.

The Polish Town Civic Association, host of the fair since its inception in 1975, had been planning to resume the fair this year, civic association treasurer Bob Gottschalk said. But the event’s chairperson, Kay Davis, passed away in February and then the civic’s headquarters on Lincoln Street was severely damaged when a pipe in an upstairs bathroom froze and burst, he said.

“We came in one day and there was three inches of water,” Gottschalk said. “So we’ve been dealing with that.”

The remediation work has been extensive, he said. The civic organization had to to rip out the interior walls and floors.

“We’re just finishing with the insurance company,” Gottschalk said.

The fair will return in 2023, he said.

The event attracts thousands of visitors to Polish Town USA each summer, to browse and shop some 250 vendor booths, sample Polish food specialities and enjoy Polka music and Polish culture.

Polish Hall will host a one-day Polish Fest, tentatively set for Aug. 20

Polish Hall, a catering hall and meeting facility on Marcy Avenue, will host a one-day Polish festival in August as it did last year, said Tom Nazjdion, president of the Riverhead Polish Independent Club, which owns and operates the hall.

Polish Hall’s event is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 20, Nazjdion said. The group plans an outside festival with traditional Polish food, beverages and a Polish band until around 5 p.m., Nazjdion said. Following that will be an evening inside the hall with food and drinks, a Polish DJ and dancing until midnight, he said. More details will be forthcoming soon.